‘We must remember that it is these men and women who run towards situations that most people run away from’.

Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, East Area Borough Commander talks to the Havering Daily about the challenges he and his officers are facing.

During such challenging times, it is our police officers, especially our frontline officers that face one of the toughest jobs possible policing London and its communities.

Here, across East Area, we have some of the most dedicated officers in the policing field. Like all London boroughs, the demand on our police officers has increased immensely, as well as the pressures they face.

For our East Area Borough Commander Stuart Bell, the challenge is to balance reactive policing, hence answering emergency response calls, alongside supporting our Neighbourhoods Team that do such a truly important job right across all our local communities.

Mr Bell has been our chief here for several years now and is very much a straight to the point leader who backs his troops and the outstanding work they do.

“It is about providing a service to the public and striving to do the best we can,” he tells the Havering Daily. “The challenge is for us to balance between reactive demands ( 999 calls) and our community Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

“We would like all members of our community to know who their local neighbourhood teams are and how to access them and we will work hard to make sure this happens. Each ward has its team of two pcs, a pcso and a sergeant overseeing this. These officers in our communities are the key to preventing crime. They know their area and its members. These are officers who make excellent connections with our communities, listening to them and working closely with them.”

The Met is currently recruiting and looking for people join the organisation.

“We need local people to join the police. People to help shape their communities which is so important for us , “adds Mr Bell.

“Emergency response officers face huge pressures, they have big demands from responding to calls as well as reporting and managing all the issues they encounter at every call. We must remember that it is these men and women who run towards situations that most people run away from. They literally run head first into danger to save others,” says Mr Bell.

Let us remember the horrendous Hainault sword attack where ringdoor bell footage of officers approaching the suspect armed with the sword went viral. An officer was clearly seen holding a taser in her hand and walking towards the suspect who was actively using the sword towards them and was able to unarm the suspect and apprehend him. Bravery is the least we could say to describe her actions.

“These officers respond to an endless list of calls,” continues Mr Bell. “From catching criminals to safe guarding issues, mental health issues and many other difficult situations. Each one of these needs to be handled differently so these officers have to keep adapting to each incident as it comes.”

Across Havering, officers answered just under 8000 calls to the police a month and officers are responding to these calls within 10 minutes on average.

We have across Havering groups such as Havering Joint Task Force who do an incredible job with a very high success rate. Alongside Romford Town Centre teams who also work tirelessly, removing a large number of weapons from our street.

“Preventing crime from happening and catching criminals remains our priority,” adds our Borough Commander. “We want our neighbourhoods officers to be community crime fighters, working with the community to reduce crime.”

Let us give a huge shout out to our Met Police officers who are doing an excellent job during such an arduous time.

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